The Sunday of My Discontent

My brother S has come up with a theory likening summer vacation to a weekend. See, he works in Education also, and likewise has the summer off. June is like a Friday. Most of June is spent at school, working, with the promise of summer vacation looming on the horizon. Depending on how awful the winter is, depends on how late in June we are at school. Most of Friday is spent working, with the promise of the weekend ahead in just a few hours. While you can enjoy Friday as the start of the weekend, likely you are too tired to really enjoy Friday night. June is the same way. The last weeks of school kick your arse and leave you tattered and worn. The first week of summer vacation is usually spent recuperating from the prior three weeks. Not much of a vacation.


July is like Saturday. Saturday is by far the best day of the weekend. You still have another day off to look forward too, and can spend your time how you see fit. If you want to stay up late, it's OK, because there is nothing you have to get up for the next day. A carefree day to spend however you choose, enjoying it to the fullest. (I do my errands on Saturday, maybe I need to change this pattern.) July is the same way. You have the ENTIRE month off from school. Vacations can be taken, laziness can abound, summer can be enjoyed to the fullest. July is my favorite month of the year, no secret as to why that is.

August is like Sunday. Sunday, while being a day off, is the day before going back to work. You have to think about the next day, what you are going to wear, do you need to do laundry, iron... what will you have for lunch. You have the day off, but you can't stay up too late, because you have to go to work in the morning. Once the calendar flips to August, there it is looming on the last week... the first day of school. Oh sure, there are 3 weeks of vacation to enjoy first.. but you can't escape the first day. You have to take stock of supplies, who needs a new backpack (me! mine ripped last year), who has out grown their pants, what to do we need to do to get ready. While July seems to go by very leisurely and relaxed, August flies by in a blink of an eye. Three weeks from today, the 8:45 bell will ring for the first time since June, and the kids will come running to line up, full of excitement and energy, ready for the year ahead. I'm not ready yet. Bring back July.